Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimated to be as much as $12 per IPhone sold. Other industry analysts have variously predicted that Apple could pay Nokia between $200 million and $1 billion if it loses the lawsuit.
Nokia said it had taken the decision to sue Apple after a breakdown in negotiations between the two companies. Apple appears to have no intention of backing down. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the IPhone maker said it intended to 'vigorously' fight Nokia's legal action, which is in the US.
Such fights between mobile phone companies are not unusual and are likely to become more common as handsets incorporate ever more technologies.
InterDigital, a US mobile telephony research and development company, licenses many of its technologies to handset makers and network operators. However, it recently lost a US court case against Nokia alleging patent infringement.
InterDigital CEO Bill Merritt predicted the Nokia law suit with Apple would last at least a year and maybe two or three it Apple countersues, which it may do, as it also owns a large portfolio of technology patents relating mobile phones.
Nokia and Qualcomm fought a legal battle over technology patents from 2005 to 2008 in the US.
Apple already pays licensing royalties to Ericsson and Qualcomm, so the company isn't philosophically opposed to paying technological rivals. Merritt said Apple was likely baulking at paying a licence fee to Nokia calculated as a percentage of the iPhone's selling price, which is significantly higher than typical smartphones.
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